The children in Gaza they are dying”of malnutrition and dehydration, while food and drinking water wait in trucks“without being able to access the Palestinian territory, denounced this Monday the head of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.
“The catastrophic levels of hunger throughout the Gaza Strip They are the result of human action“He said in the first face-to-face meeting held by the organization’s Advisory Commission since the war in Gaza began on October 7.
As other humanitarian entities have denounced, the person responsible maintained that the breakdown of civil order “has led to rampant looting and smuggling, preventing the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid“, while “Gazans cling to life”.
In the two-day meeting, which began today at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Lazzarini asked not to forget that another tragedy is being experienced in the West Bank, where half a thousand Palestinians have died in the same period.
“Daily attacks by Israeli settlers, military incursions and the destruction of homes and critical infrastructure are part of a well-established system of segregation and oppression”, he denounced.
He also referred to the intensification of clashes on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where there is a risk of “a total war”.
UNRWA, considered the central pillar of humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, as well as among the millions of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, is in a very delicate financial situation, despite its main donors have resumed their contributions.
These were curtailed for some time by accusations from Israel that the body was somehow complicit with Hamas, which was disproved by impartial investigations from outside UNRWA.
However, Lazzarini maintained that the organization suffers from an acute lack of resources to fulfill its mission and that its ability to operate beyond next August ““It will depend on the States to disburse the planned funds and to finance more of their central budget.”.
UNRWA is estimated to require US$1.2 billion to continue meeting the vital humanitarian needs of civilian victims of this war until the end of the year. Of that amount, it currently only has 18%.
Its operations in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have received only 20% of what they need.
Source: Gestion
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